Big Brother 6 – House Calls, September 20th – The Penultimate Show

Penultimate. I just love Marcellas’ “big words.” When I watched the movie Eddie and the Cruisers for the first time, I was struck by the nickname of Tom Berenger’s character, “Word Man.” his bandmates were often impressed that he always had the right words, hence the nickname. I always thought then how cool it would be to be called that. So today, Marcellas is my Word Man, as he calls today’s show with winner predictions, favorite BB and HC moments, and of course the calls, the penultimate.

Stacey calls in right off the bat with a hope. She wants Ivette to win over Maggie. She really wants neither to win, but can’t stand the thought of Maggie winning because of Eric. Although all realize either Ivette or Maggie will share it with their “Cappy.” Marcellas says Ivette has no idea how much money $500,000 will be after taxes. She wants to buy Cappy a house, pay off Maggie’s car and do some stuff for her family.

Marcellas then suggests maybe she should buy a bunch of lottery tickets to possibly increase the money. Gretchen suggests he is having a “Gretchen moment” with that idea. That makes Marcellas remember his favorite crazy Gretchen moment. It was the socks game she created with the laundry baskets. Gretchen tells the producers to get ready for season seven, as she has lots more ideas where that one came from.

Dennis calls saying he’s watched all six seasons of BB, and this is the most emotionally attached he’s seen people get. He and his wife favor different alliances this season. They watch the show together, but have agreed not to discuss it. He cheated and found out what happened before Friday night’s show, but didn’t want to spoil it for her and didn’t say.

Because of Janelle’s comment with Julie after she was evicted, the thinks the vote will end 5-2 in favor of Ivette. Marcellas agrees, thinking it will be Jennifer and either April or possibly Janelle as the only two votes for Maggie. He says had Maggie mea culpa-ed more at the end, she might have won.

Gretchen says that her favorite Marcellas moment this season was Marcellas’ constant mention of mea culpa-ing. She says she hears it every day and can’t get away form it. Marcellas’ favorite is calling Kaysar the Iraqi Peach and saying he wanted to bury the pit in the backyard and grow more. Gretchen says she also loved when they suggested April be one the cover of Barely 40 magazine and Marcellas fell on the floor he was laughing so hard.

Monda talks about seeing Marcellas on How Do I Look and looking forward to now seeing him on The Bold and the Beautiful when it airs today. Later on CBS.com Marcellas will be discussing his recurring role on the daytime drama at Soap Box on CBS.com. One of the producers, Mike, followed Marcellas around during his filming, and this footage can be seen later as well on CBS.com

Suddenly Marcellas and Gretchen remember Monda is still on the phone! She mentions how stunned Maggie and Ivette looked after the jury questions, and that Jen really laid into Maggie. Maggie then just couldn’t understand why no one thought she was a good player. Marcellas hates that the opinions formed are usually at the beginning and not anything said in the DR or in the challenges. Well, except for James. Marcellas thinks they’ll see that Maggie used them to get further.

Nicole calls wanting everyone to know that Texas is ashamed of Jennifer and April. Gretchen is from Texas too, and understands. Marcellas point out no one is really a true representative of anything, just themselves. Gretchen says Texas needs Janis Joplin to balance out the representation.

Disputing what a caller said yesterday, Nicole says Janelle didn’t just say she would party her winnings away, she also said she would buy a condo in Miami, buy her brother a car, then hire a financial advisor for the rest. Marcellas questions again if $500,000 will cover all that, and says maybe the winner needs a breakdown of the currency rates. He also suggests the winner move to Thailand where the dollar is much stronger.

Susan calls with a unique thought. She thinks Ivette’s feelings for Cappy were all an act. She thinks it was to get on Maggie’s good side and because she figured it would be good to be connected to someone like a fireman. Marcellas points out again that this is the most over-dramatic season yet, and that there is perhaps a kernel of wisdom in what Susan says. First it was a group strategy and later she believed it. Yet, we’ve seen she’s quick to bond with men.

Lodi calls in with her favorite HC moment – when Beau called in and Marcellas sat and filed his nails and adjusted the orchid. He asks why the orchid isn’t holding Ivette’s Dumbest Move trophy, and Marcellas explains Gretchen thought the trophy made the set look trashy.

Marcellas also takes this time to say that the town hall meeting will be different this year. In order to not have the problem they had last year with not enough time to speak to all, only four HGs will be guests in the studio. I must admit I’m a little disappointed, but I do understand. Most frustrating is they won’t tell us which four, but Marcellas is worried about having a Geraldo moment getting his nose broken, making me nearly certain Eric will be one of them.

Dave calls and says his favorite moment of the BB season was the one where he really stated to like Janelle. The day Howie went crazy on April and April made some comment about Howie looking like a crazy person. With an “iced diva” look, Janelle glanced over at April and said, “Well, at least he doesn’t look like a liar.”

Asked what their plans are after HC is over, Gretchen jokes it will be a Pinky and Brain type of thing, yet they admit to not being sure which is Pinky and which is Brain. Dave also wants to know why Maggie and Ivette looked so bewildered that they would be asked such tough questions. He adds it’s not like the jury is just going to hand over $500,000 like it was candy.

Monica’s finale prediction isn’t quite the same; she’s making a prediction for life outside the BB house. She thinks out of everyone it will be Ivette and Janelle with the lasting friendship. They are the two most candid in the house. They probably would have had more fun together but the Fiendship just wouldn’t allow it. And maybe if that happens, maybe, just maybe, Kaysar will see his way to forgiving Ivette.

Pepper from Vegas calls into HC. Is it just me or does she sound like a stripper? Her favorite HC moment was when Marcellas donned the BeauBeau wig. Marcellas’ wish is for people to take HC for what it is. He just wants to have fun. Along the same lines, Marcellas names Gretchen giggling in the blonde wig yesterday as another of his favorite moments. There’s also the ultimate costume drama when Marcellas and Gretchen dressed like Maggie and Eric.

Jokester Alex calls to say his favorite moment was finding out Gretchen was on a previous season of BB. Marcellas says Gretchen was in an accident where she lost her short term memory, not allowing her to remember her stint on BB.

Alex wonders what Marcellas and Gretchen’s strategy would have been on this year’s BB together as a secret pair and having never had a previous association with BB before. Marcellas says his goal would be to eradicate every visage (Word Man!) of Maggie and Eric in the house. He admits, though, he liked Eric in his pre-interview, but once he came in the house demanding lights out and talking nonstop about being a firefighter, Marcellas didn’t want to look at or listen to him anymore. He’d let Gretchen run interference for him.

Gretchen speaks up and says she’d do good with that as she has good diplomacy skills. She can also be a bumbling fool, though, but knows Marcellas would have the capacity to win competitions. He says he’d beat her in the end game, though, because he can cry on cue. She says she does it better, and he says, oh please, he’s a gay man and black.

Yet another caller predicts a 5-2 win for Ivette. She thinks Rachel will go whichever way her alliance goes. Marcellas doesn’t think there’s a chance Jennifer won’t vote for Maggie.

Michelle from Newfoundland calls also predicting Ivette. She thinks Jen and Rachel will be the only votes for Maggie. She also announces she met her best friend in Texas through HC.

Tracey asks Marcellas and Gretchen who their favorite HGs are this season. Marcellas lists many, including Ivette, based solely on her passion. But his number one, and absolute favorite is Janelle. However, he’s not fond of her racist comments about Ivette or how far she went in the fights she had. Gretchen names the “collective” as her favorite, because you’d never see anyone acting this way in any other circumstance, only when placed together in the house. Marcellas now wants to change his answer.

Ending today’s show, Marcellas and Gretchen share a kiss, congratulate each other on a great season, call each other friends, and say they wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else. I don’t think there’s any way I can close this better than that.